Corporate Governance

David Campisi joined Big Lots a little more than a year ago as president and CEO and with sales and profits gathering momentum the nation’s leading off-price retailer has decided to begin paying a hefty dividend.

The operator of roughly 1,500 stores nationwide said it would begin paying a quarterly dividend of 17 cents a share as part of a more balanced approach to returning cash to shareholders and as a reflection of confidence in the company’s strategy and favorable long-term prospects.

Mobile marketing and customer relationship management company Mocapay has hired Chris Munz as its director of business development.

“Chris is a welcome and strategic addition to the Mocapay team,” Mocapay CEO Doug Dwyre said. “As Mocapay continues to grow we welcome Chris’ expertise and proven track record of successful marketing strategy planning and implementation as well as an extensive technical understanding of needs of clients.”

While Walmart and the Walton family were taking heat, again, on the national stage over worker pay and alleged stinginess, it was a different situation in Northwest Arkansas where generosity was in plain view.

The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G is underway at the Pinnacle Country Club and as has been the case in years past the LPGA golf tournament is accompanied by numerous charitable donations.

Executive authority suffered a blow this week when the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Pepsi distributor Noel Canning in a dispute over president Barack Obama’s use of an arcane “recess appointments” clause to load the National Labor Relations Board with pro-union choices.

Pedigree has launched its 50-state animal shelter renovation project with the help of Miranda Lambert in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, the country singer’s hometown.

“I started supporting this shelter to ensure every dog in my hometown would have a safe place to stay and enough food to fill their bellies. And Pedigree has helped me deliver on both those promises,” Lambert said at the event, where she and several community members and Pedigree employees cleaned the shelter and erected agility courses.

Women’s sportswear and apparel retailer Fresh Produce has appointed Dorothy Sadd as its COO, the company announced Thursday. The 25-year industry veteran will oversee growing the 30-year-old brand’s footprint, using her expertise in several different facets of clothing production and inventory management.

The Sports Authority enlisted the aid of current and former San Francisco 49ers greats to promote awareness of 18 stores it remodeled recently in the Bay Area.

Grand re-opening festivities were scheduled for the 18 stores beginning on Saturday, June 28. Each of the remodeled stores features an intuitive design and specialty sport shops with products from top brands like Nike, Under Armour, Adidas and The North Face, according to the company.

McCormick & Co is vowing to accelerate innovation, increase marketing support and be a more effective category leader with trading partners after sales declined 5% in the spice and flavoring company’s America’s region.

San Jose, Calif. – Researchers at computer security firm Duo Security have discovered a flaw in the two-step method PayPal uses to authenticate account-holders. The flaw involves a temporary security key PayPal users can generate with a personal device as an additional step along with their password for account log-in.

Minneapolis – Best Buy Inc. is reportedly considering selling off its Chinese business or finding a partner to help operate it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Best Buy is working with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to examine its options in China.